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All Rise...

Judge Daryl Loomis's security camera footage is shockingly boring.

The Charge

Let no love fall victim.

Opening Statement

Love and politics don't always collide, but when you're gay in Iran, that
collision is inevitable if you're interested in expressing that love. Where such
thoughts are illegal and there are people around watching your movements, it
might seem right to just suppress them and live how society deems appropriate.
But writer/director Maryam Keshavarz shows in Circumstance, her debut
feature, that despite the inescapability of societal norms, keeping true to
one's self is the only real path to happiness.

Facts of the Case

Atafeh (Nikohl Boosheri) and Shireen (Sarah Kazemy) are best friends and
classmates in Tehran who enjoy Iranian underground youth culture, with its
dancing, drinking, and music. They must keep all that under wraps, though, lest
the morality police will literally break down the door and take them to jail. It
becomes worse for the two girls when their friendship starts to more resemble
love, a taboo that could land them into incredible trouble. Soon, though,
Atafeh's ex-addict brother who now works for the police, Mehran (Reza Sixo
Safai, F-Stops), makes a deal to marry Shireen, threatening to ruin the
real love the girls have to each other.

The Evidence

Iranian-born, New York-raised director Keshavarz culled the story for
Circumstance, in part, from her own experiences with her cousins while
visiting Iran and shows a vibrant youth culture very much like one that might
exist in the west. The film is at its best in these scenes, which have a
realistic, infectious life much different from the way the culture is often
portrayed. Atafeh and Shireen, though coming from very different backgrounds,
are kids being kids, taking advantage of the burgeoning youth culture as much as
they can. They learn, though, that the fun they're having can only last until
the morality police find out. Moreover, the love that each has found in the
other is subject to the exact same scrutiny.

They know this, of course, but their love is stronger than their fear. The
trouble comes after they are caught, not in the expression of their love, but in
the club getting drunk and listening to hip-hop. It becomes clear to Atafeh's
family at this point the life their daughter is leading and her father, in spite
of his American education and liberal-mindedness, can't allow her to live in
such a manner while she's a child in his house. This attitude is extended to
Shireen who, while not necessarily under the thumb of the family, she is under
heightened suspicion as the orphan of a pair of journalists killed for their
writing. For her own protection, scummy brother Mehran coerces her into marriage
(one of the saddest wedding scenes I've ever watched), bringing her into the
family and containing her actions. It allows Atafeh and Shireen to be together,
but it's here that Mehran's real intentions show themselves. With his cameras in
place and everyone together in the same house, he can watch them all at once and
report any anti-Iranian or immoral activities to the authorities, and he does
not hesitate.

While Circumstance feels a little sensationalistic by this stage of
the film, it had already worked enough magic on me to see the story through.
Atafeh and Shireen are great characters and the performances of the young
actresses, both in their debut, do an extremely good job in make their
relationship believable. They build a ton of sympathy on their own and with the
help of the despicable Mehran, whose actions drive the second half of the film.
Keshavarz brings them together with the conflicting cultures she represents,
contrasting the youth culture with that of the establishment and detailing their
uneasy relationship.

Keshavarz's vision is realized in combination with cinematographer Brian
Rigney Hubbard (Plague Town) and composer
Gingger Shankar (Homecoming), whose
combined efforts really give Circumstance a complete feel. The film was
shot in Beirut, Lebanon, with relative freedom compared to what they'd have
faced in trying to actually shoot in Tehran. The stand-in city looks reasonably
like Tehran, though I'm sure people from the area can tell the difference, and
the interiors range from the deep browns of the homes and mosques to the
candy-colored lighting of the party scenes. Shankar's music fits perfectly, as
well, with gorgeous traditional songs mixed in with imported rock and hip-hop.
Together with the performances, this debut production from Keshavarz is very
strong and a film I can easily recommend.

The DVD for Circumstance comes from Lionsgate and is a pretty good
release. The image transfer is lovely, about as strong as you're going to get in
a standard definition release. The colors and black levels in this beautifully
lit film are nearly perfect, with great clarity all the way to the back of the
frame. The sound is not quite as strong, but it's still a good surround mix. The
dialog is perfectly clear, the music sounds great, and the ambient sound is
quite strong in the rear channels. The extras are slight, but of pretty good
quality. An audio commentary featuring Keshavarz, Safai, cinematographer Brian
Rigney Hubbard, and composer Gingger Shankar gives a solid account of the film's
production from many angles and is a better than average commentary. A fifteen
minute, entirely standard making-of featurette that gives additional interviews
and backstage footage, along with a trailer, close out the disc.

Closing Statement

Circumstance is an excellent film. Some may be annoyed by the
increasing explosiveness of onscreen events, but the film has a lovely message
and some really great performances, especially with such an inexperienced cast.
It's not a terribly subtle piece, but it's a fantastic debut from Keshavarz that
I can wholly recommend.